Coal industry across Europe

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EURACOAL’s premier publication was previewed in the European Parliament on 28 January 2020 and published with a foreword by the European Commissioner for Energy in February 2020.

Contents

Foreword by Kadri Simson, European Commissioner for Energy

Introduction by Tomasz Rogala, President of EURACOAL

From Energy Union to a carbon-neutral Europe via a just transition

Added value from coal

International coal market and global energy trends

Country profiles

Coal classification

Glossary

Map of coal in Europe

RWE Niederaußem lignite-fired power plant and wind farm at Bergheim in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. © Stevotion | Dreamstime.com

EU statistics – Data for EU member states that use only imported coal, 2018

Population
(million)

GDP
(€ billion)

Primary energy production
(Mtce)

Total primary
energy consumption
(Mtce)

Primary
coal & peat consumption
(Mtce)

Gross
power generation
(TWh)

Gross
coal power generation
(TWh)

Capacity of coal-fired generation
(GW)

Austria

8.8

385.7

16.7

47.2

3.9

68.6

3.6

0.6

Belgium

11.4

450.5

16.7

74.8

4.4

75.0

2.3

Croatia

4.1

51.5

*6.0

*12.5

0.5

*12.0

*1.4

0.3

Denmark

5.8

298.3

19.7

24.2

2.2

30.0

6.4

3.7

Finland

5.5

232.1

27.6

48.8

6.0

70.0

10.0

3.4

France

66.9

2,353.1

193.2

350.4

13.0

580.7

9.3

3.0

Ireland

4.8

324.0

6.9

19.5

2.0

30.9

4.3

0.9

Italy

60.5

1,765.4

50.4

215.6

12.2

290.6

30.5

7.8

Netherlands

17.2

774.0

52.2

102.5

11.6

113.5

29.9

4.6

Portugal

10.3

203.9

8.3

31.2

3.9

59.8

12.1

1.8

Sweden

10.1

471.2

50.1

68.4

3.1

159.3

2.0

0.3

Sources:  EURACOAL members, Eurostat, IEA and ENTSO-E.  See country chapters for data on coal-producing member states.  * 2017 data

EU statistics – Coal production and imports in 2018 for the EU-28

Hard coal production
(million tonnes)

Lignite production
(million tonnes)

Hard coal imports
(million tonnes)

Austria

3.5

Belgium

4.1

Bulgaria

30.3

0.8

Croatia

0.5

Czech Republic

4.4

39.2

3.8

Denmark

2.8

Finland

4.0

France

13.5

Germany

2.8

166.3

44.5

Greece

36.5

0.4

Hungary

7.9

1.5

Ireland

1.3

Italy

14.1

Netherlands

13.0

Poland

63.4

58.6

19.7

Portugal

4.7

Romania

0.7

23.5

0.9

Slovakia

1.5

4.4

Slovenia

3.2

0.4

Spain

2.5

15.8

Sweden

2.7

United Kingdom

2.6

10.1

others

0.5

EU-28

76.3

367.0

167.0

Source:  EURACOAL members

EU statistics – Power generation structure in the EU-28 in 2017

Total gross
power generation
        (TWh)      EU share (%)

Coal &
coal
products
(%)

Oil
(%)

Fossil
gas
(%)

Nuclear
energy
(%)

Hydro
(%)

RES,
waste &
other
(%)

Austria

71.3

2.2

5

1

15

0

59

19

Belgium

86.1

2.6

3

<1

27

49

2

20

Bulgaria

45.6

1.4

46

1

4

34

8

7

Croatia

12.0

0.4

11

2

26

0

46

15

Cyprus

5.0

0.2

0

91

0

0

0

9

Czech Republic

86.9

2.6

51

<1

4

33

3

9

Denmark

31.0

0.9

20

1

6

0

<1

73

Estonia*

12.9

0.4

84

1

<1

0

<1

15

Finland**

67.1

2.0

14

<1

5

33

22

26

France

561.5

17.0

3

1

7

71

10

8

Germany

652.0

19.8

39

<1

13

12

4

31

Greece

55.3

1.7

34

10

31

0

7

18

Hungary

32.8

1.0

16

<1

24

49

1

11

Ireland**

30.9

0.9

19

<1

51

0

3

27

Italy

295.2

9.0

12

4

48

0

13

24

Latvia

7.5

0.2

0

0

27

0

58

14

Lithuania

3.9

0.1

0

4

15

0

30

51

Luxembourg

2.2

0.1

0

0

10

0

64

26

Malta

1.6

0.0

0

12

78

0

0

10

Netherlands

117.1

3.6

29

1

51

3

<1

16

Poland

170.4

5.2

78

1

6

0

2

13

Portugal

59.4

1.8

25

2

32

0

13

29

Romania

64.3

2.0

26

1

17

18

23

15

Slovakia

27.6

0.8

13

2

6

55

17

8

Slovenia

16.3

0.5

30

<1

3

38

25

4

Spain

275.6

8.4

17

6

23

21

8

26

Sweden**

164.3

5.0

<1

<1

<1

40

40

19

United Kingdom

338.3

10.3

7

<1

40

21

3

29

EU-28

3,294.3

100.0

22

2

20

25

10

21

*    coal figure includes oil shale
**  coal figure includes peat
Source:  Eurostat nrg_bal_peh database, last update 25.06.2019

Data sources and references

Data and information has been provided by EURACOAL members and national government agencies.  Eurostat, IEA and World Bank databases have also been valuable sources.  Other data and information has come from the following publications.

BAFA (Bundesamt für Wirtschaft und Ausfuhrkontrolle – German Federal Office of Economics and Export Control (2019), Aufkommen und Export von Erdgas Entwicklung der Grenzübergangspreise ab 1991, BMWi, Eschborn.

BGR (Bundesanstalt für Geowissenschaften und Rohstoffe – Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources) (2019), Energy Study 2018 – data and developments concerning German and global energy supplies, 22, Hannover, Germany, August.

BP (2019), BP Statistical Review of World Energy 2019, 68th ed., BP plc, London, June.

CEER (Council of European Energy Regulators) (2018), Status Review of Renewable Support Schemes in Europe for 2016 and 2017, Report C18-SD-63-03, Brussels, December.

ENTSO-E (European Network of Transmission System Operators for Electricity) (2019), Statistical Factsheet 2018, ENTSO-E aisbl, Brussels, June.

European Commission (2011), Impact Assessment accompanying the Energy Roadmap 2050, Commission Staff Working Paper SEC(2011) 1565, Brussels, December.

European Commission (2016), EU Reference Scenario 2016:  energy, transport and GHG emissions trends to 2050, European Union, Luxembourg, July.

European Commission (2018), In-Depth Analysis in Support of the Commission Communication COM(2018) 773 A Clean Planet for All – a European long-term strategic vision for a prosperous, modern, competitive and climate neutral economy, Brussels, 28 November 2018 (§7.7).

European Commission DG Energy (2019), EU Energy in Figures – statistical pocketbook 2019, European Union, Luxembourg, September.

IEA (International Energy Agency) (2018), CO2 Emissions from Fuel Combustion, OECD/IEA, Paris, October.

IEA (2019a), World Energy Outlook 2019, OECD/IEA, Paris.

IEA (2019b), Coal Information 2019, OECD/IEA, Paris.

IHS (2019), IHS McCloskey Coal Report, IHS Markit, London.

IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) (2018), Global Warming of 1.5°C. An IPCC Special Report on the impacts of global warming of 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels and related global greenhouse gas emission pathways, in the context of strengthening the global response to the threat of climate change, sustainable development, and efforts to eradicate poverty [Masson-Delmotte, V., P. Zhai, H.-O. Pörtner, D. Roberts, J. Skea, P.R. Shukla, A. Pirani, W. Moufouma-Okia, C. Péan, R. Pidcock, S. Connors, J.B.R. Matthews, Y. Chen, X. Zhou, M.I. Gomis, E. Lonnoy, T. Maycock, M. Tignor, and T. Waterfield (eds.)]. World Meteorological Organization, Geneva.

NERA Economic Consulting (2018), Update on Energy Taxation and Subsidies in Europe:  an analysis of government revenues from and support measures for fossil fuels and renewables in the EU and Norway, for International Association of Oil and Gas Producers (IOGP), London, May.

Riley, J.C. (2005), “Estimates of Regional and Global Life Expectancy, 1800–2001”, Population and Development Review , vol.31, iss.3, pp.537-543, September 2005.  Zijdeman, R., F. Ribeira da Silva (2015), “Life Expectancy at Birth (Total)”, https://hdl.handle.net/10622/LKYT53, IISH Dataverse, V1.  UN Population Division (2019).  Published online at OurWorldInData.org.  Retrieved from:  https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/life-expectancy.

VDKi (2019), Annual Report 2019 – facts and trends 2018/19, Verein der Kohlenimporteure e.V., Berlin, September.

World Energy Council (2015), World Energy Trilemma:  priority actions on climate change and how to balance the trilemma, World Energy Council, London, May.